Goal-setting at Town Hall

Selectmen have set specific goals for Town Manager Mark Stankiewicz. One of them directs him to set annual goals for the people who work for him.

After reading a long list of goals, small and significant, compiled by selectman Sergio Harnais and chairman William Hallisey, Stankiewicz asked selectmen to prioritize the list.

"What do you think?" selectman Matthew Muratore said.

"The longer out goal would be organizational change."

"Begin with goals and objectives for each department," Muratore said. "Then, how does that get built into the budget? How do you re-focus the resources? How can we be even stronger with the resources we have?"

Asked if he knew of other goal-based municipal operations, Stankiewicz said no. He said, particularly because of public employee unions, government works differently from business. None of the members of the current board have experience working in government.

The goals the board set for Stankiewicz include expanding the scope of the consolidation committee, build relationships with companies in town that have community relations departments, generating new revenue, soliciting suggestions from town employees, encourage Entergy to clean-up the roadsides of its property and improving customer service.